Information Please's roundup of recent discoveries by Otto Johnson It seems the latest discoveries in our annual roundup are either mutant size-busters or minor portents of disaster. From…
(Encyclopedia) NeballatNeballatnēbălˈăt [key], in the Bible, Benjamite town, W central ancient Palestine, NE of present-day Lod, Israel. It was reoccupied after the return from captivity.
(Encyclopedia) cycle, in astronomy, period of time required for the recurrence of some celestial event. The length of a cycle may be measured relative to the sun or to the fixed stars (see sidereal…
(Encyclopedia) bard, in Wales, term originally used to refer to the order of minstrel-poets who composed and recited the poems that celebrated the feats of Celtic chieftains and warriors. The term…
(Encyclopedia) Good Thief or Penitent Thief, in the New Testament, the malefactor crucified with Jesus who did not revile Him; Jesus promised him Paradise that day. In the Roman martyrology his feast…
(Encyclopedia) ErebusErebusĕrˈĭbəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, personification of darkness. According to Hesiod, Erebus sprang from Chaos and was the father of Day. His name was sometimes…
(Encyclopedia) civil time, local time based on universal time. Civil time may be formally defined as mean solar time plus 12 hr; the civil day begins at midnight, while the mean solar day begins at…
(Encyclopedia) Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, 1952–, emir of Qatar (1995–2013). The son of Emir Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, Hamad is credited with having turned a country of desert nomads into a modern…
